Theft at the Public Till
said “fork over your wallet.” When the robber does it, we are aware. When the public officialdom does it, we are seldom aware. The ripoff is not that public officials are stealing. I have no doubt that such acts occur, but they are not the subject of this exercise. The ripoff is more subtle but far more pervasive. Because our system is so focused on who gets what, on redistributing the pie, on creating speculation gains for winners and on creating a pot of spoils to be shared, we have lost focus on those needs in our society which more than a majority want to see taken care of, somehow, someway -- removing the homeless from our streets; providing a set of opportunities for our children greater than those we face ourselves; knowing that we have the potential for security in old age; knowing we can find a job. Our public officials are hamstrung by an inappropriate set of in- centives. Thus, to attempt to do the right thing is a common goal - but our understanding, and theirs, of what is the “right” thing has been perverted. The problem is one of complexity. Our world is composed of too much information, too much drivel and too much data. We have lost our filters on what is important. In efforts to master the complex, what is truly import- ant disappears, replaced by symbols and easy ways out.” How do I define complexity? As the opposite of simple, predictable, and easy to understand. To quote Murray Gell-Mann, “There are no surprises in simple systems; simple systems give rise to behaviors that are easy to deduce if we know the inputs (decisions) acting upon the system and the environment. If we drop a stone, it falls; if we stretch a spring and let it go, it oscillates in a fixed pattern; if we put money into a fixed-interest bank account, it grows to a predictable sum in accordance with an easily understood and computable rule. Such predictable and intuitively well-understood behavior is one of the principal characteristics of simple systems. Complex processes, on the other hand, generate counterintuitive, seemingly accusal behavior that’s full of surprises. Lower taxes and interest rates lead to higher unemployment, low- cost housing projects give rise to slums worse than those the ‘better’ housing replaced: the construction of new freeways results in unprecedented traffic jams and increased commuting times. For many people, such unpredictable, seemingly capricious, behavior is the defining feature of a complex system.”
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